Does Michigan's Scanner Error Bill of Rights encourage scammers?

Do you think the awards system outlined in the Scanner Error Bill of Rights is fair, or does it encourage scammers?

Michigan's Item Pricing Act, which required retailers to individually price items for sale in their stores, was replaced in September with the New Scanner Law, which did away with those requirements. A recent article on MLive about the new law drew comments from a number of interested readers.

One reader name Olesya, a retail worker, wrote me the following email, saying she is concerned the new law is enabling scammers:

(The) Michigan Scanning Law has created a new type of scam. There is a group of people who shop late at night at different retailers seeking out to purchase items that are mismarked either by a retail associate or by manufacturer. They checkout at so-called self-checkouts so that a cashier who is overseeing them cannot see what the scanned items are marked. Then 'quoting' the law they bring the items back to the store (to be noted that they don't bring it to the store where items have originally been purchase, but to another one of the same retail chain). They return items purchased at the price they were purchased. After the return, they claim the Michigan Scanning Law award because the items have been mismarked. In the end these people get their money back for items they returned plus $300 to $400 worth of awards per receipt on top of that.

The problem with the law is that it protects the consumer from being overcharged by the retailer, but we end up with consumers who are scamming businesses out of their profits, scamming retail workers out of their earnings, scamming fellow consumers out of their money (for now, the amount of money the retailer is losing will be included in the price of an item). ... How can we stop this?

According to the State of Michigan's "Scanner Error Bill of Rights," if an automatic checkout system (scanner) charges you more than the displayed price of an item and a) the transaction has been completed and b) you have a receipt indicating the item purchased and the price charged for it, the seller may choose to refund you the difference between the amount charged and the price displayed plus a "bonus" of 10 times the difference, with a minimum of $1 and a maximum of $5. If the seller refuses these options, you can sue to recover your actual damages or $250 — whichever is greater — plus "reasonable attorney fees" up to $300.

Olesya's understandable concern is that people will take advantage of these policies to purposefully find mismarked products that they can then return, using the receipt to then receive the bonuses as well. The law only requires the buyer to provide evidence of the loss suffered — in person or in writing.

As to Olesya's question — "How can we stop this?" — it ultimately comes down to the individual retailers to be extra
careful in making sure that their products are marked accurately. I think the New Scanner Law itself is a right step in that direction, as eliminating the requirement to individually price each item also makes less room for the kinds of pricing errors that can lead to the abuse of the system.

Kalamazoo Gazette reporter Rosemary Parker, in her recent article about the law, quotes Frank J. Guglielmi, director of public relations for Meijer, Inc., as saying these kinds of errors are rare.

Additionally, the bonus is capped at a maximum of $5 and isn't awarded for duplicate items, so you couldn't find a mismarked display of cans of soup, for instance, buy 100 and then get hundreds of dollars worth of bonuses for them all. Even so, it only takes a few shoppers per store to take advantage of a retailer's pricing mistakes to hurt the bottom line, "scamming businesses out of their profits, scamming retail workers out of
their earnings, scamming fellow consumers out of their money," as Olesya puts it.

So what should be done? Do you think the awards system outlined in the Scanner Error Bill of Rights is fair, or does it encourage scammers? Share your thoughts in the comments section below or send me an email.